With four days to go before Election Day, the camp of Makati City Rep. Abigail “Abby” Binay said she remained confident of victory in the mayoralty race, citing an “internal survey” showing that 70 percent of the city residents still prefer her over main rival and current mayor, Romulo “Kid” Peña.
Binay’s spokesperson Joey Salgado said the majority of the respondents still wanted a Binay to lead Makati due to Peña’s “bad governance.” He declined to give other details about the survey, saying only that it was commissioned by a private company.
Salgado also claimed that some department heads appointed by Peña after he took over nine months ago had recently taken five-month study leaves. The officials did it apparently to “prepare for the takeover of Binay,” he told the Inquirer on Thursday.
He identified them as Ramilia Cruzado of the City Administration office, City Secretary Ariel Labra, City Engineer Waldemar Dabuet, City Budget Officer Aileen Soriano, and Department of Environmental Services head Danny Villas.
Binay earlier criticized Peña for avoiding forums where they were supposed to present their platforms, as she also vowed to review the programs Peña had implemented to check whether those were “legitimate.”
But Peña’s camp belied Salgado’s statement about the key officials going on leave. “We categorically deny their statement. Only Villas filed for a study leave. They also cannot provide necessary documents to prove that claim,” City Hall’s information officer Gibo Delos Reyes said when sought for comment.
According to Delos Reyes, Peña’s own source of confidence is “the trust of the people” which he has earned since replacing Mayor Junjun Binay, Abby’s younger brother.
Delos Reyes also noted that Peña recently earned the endorsement of two presidential candidates, the survey-topping Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Grace Poe. Abby and Junjun’s father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, is also running for president.
“Mayor ‘Kid’ Peña expressed his gratitude to Mayor Duterte and Sen. Poe for their support to his campaign and his Bagong Makati (New Makati) advocacy,” Delos Reyes said.
But the official clarified that Peña’s “support remains with (administration candidate Mar) Roxas and the Liberal Party ticket, being a stalwart of this political party.”
The public information office is expected to release today the results of “a house-to-house survey” on the Makati residents’ choice for next mayor. The survey covered about 9,000 households, Delos Reyes said.
Peña, the elected vice mayor in the 2013 polls, was in the line of succession when Junjun was suspended and later dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman due to the corruption charges filed against him.
Junjun’s removal ended his family’s hold on the top City Hall post, which began 30 years ago when his father was appointed officer-in-charge of the city after the Edsa People Power Revolution.